Download The Cynical – Edition Nine

Somehow, we’ve reached the ninth edition of The Cynical. What started as a mass release of articles on any football topic our writers were interested in – mostly Celtic related – is now a slick-looking digital magazine, to be downloaded and read for free anywhere and anytime you like. While the packaging is different, the concept has stayed the same: an eclectic mix of different stories, views and styles, with the one common denominator being football. We’ve had editions dedicated to a range of topics such as equality within football, the political side of the game and Celtic’s European exploits.

This edition is another filled with a wide range of articles. The very talented Frankie Mitchell has illustrated some of Celtic’s greatest festive holiday moments: four goals against Rangers that made it a very Merry Christmas and New Year for everyone in green. Frankie has also re-imagined Bobby Lennox playing in today’s Celtic team, to go along with Lindsay Hamilton’s fascinating portrayal of the Lisbon Lion legend.

In this edition there are several articles on our relationship with football. For Eoin Coyne it is a bittersweet sentiment; a long relationship now coming to a sour end. Ryan Clarke experiences the magical pull of the game and how it connects people while visiting a tiny village in the Italian mountains. The fantastic author Daniel Gray shares an extract from his latest book, Black Books and Football Pinks, about the lost wonders about the football world. Dan is from the small village of Copmanthorpe in Yorkshire, which also just happens to be the setting of Patrick Solich’s regular column: Stories From A Reserve Team Left-back. Finding himself on the fringes of the village reserve team, Paddy still makes football an integral part of his Saturdays.

Our remaining articles are about accepting and embracing new ideas within football. Liam Divers gets an insight into the world of the Scottish football media as he attends the post-match press conference after Celtic’s win over RB Leipzig, Daniel McGowan laments how the British attitude to foreign methods is endangering our culture and football, and lastly it’s yours truly speaking to Östersunds FK manager Ian Burchnall, a long-time friend of the Cynics, about how being brave enough to do try something new in football can bring about great change.

The beautiful package wrapped around the lovely content is down to Frankie Mitchell’s illustrations and Matt Johnston’s front page design, with the marvellous, the wonderful, the heroic Christopher Boud doing all the fantastic artwork and lay-out for each single article. I owe them all a pint.

Have a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year, from everyone at the 90 Minute Cynic.

Download The Cynical – Edition Nine:

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Christian came to Scotland in 2001 and nobody have still managed to get rid of him. A native of Oslo, Norway, he was a huge fan of Ronny Deila before it was cool and still is now that nobody likes him anymore. Christian joined the Cynics in 2014 and is now website editor and infrequent podcaster. He has previously written for The Herald, Scotsman and has also contributed to STV (face) and BBC (voice)